Hypatia’s Blogs » my stupid ideas » Social Anxiety Friends

Welcome Guest Login or Signup

Social Anxiety Friends will be closing on Nov 29th

Hypatia

PROFILE

GALLERY

BLOGS

GUESTBOOK

FRIENDS

FAVORITES

VIDEOS

My Stupid Ideas

Posted On: 02/17/2008 08:55:02

Sometimes I don't know why I agree to do things. They seem like good ideas at the time and I get all excited. It's not until later that I realize it was probably a stupid idea and I should just stay home in bed.

Yes, I'm overreacting. Yes, this is because I have SA.

I'm the type of idiot who thinks, "Oh, I have a problem with SA? So what. I've got things I need to do." I should know by now not to be surprised when SA rears its ugly head after something like that.

So the prof I work for is going to be out of town until Thursday on a job interview. The idiot that I am agreed to do the lectures on Monday and Wednesday not just for my 9:00 a.m. section, but for the noon section as well. So that means I have to give two lectures TWICE. I have to find 100 minutes worth of stuff and then say it.

I'm not worried about the saying it. I'm not worried about actually standing up in from of a class of over 100 students. I'm not worried about getting the information wrong. It's on the Scientific Revolution. My dissertation is on the SR. I know the information.

Here's what I'm worried about:

1) Being boring. I don't want to be boring.

2) Having too much dense information. I can't help it. The SR is a dense field with lots of names and discoveries. I took out as many technical terms as I could. It's hard not making it sound like a list of names and discoveries though.

3) Not saying enough - finishing in half an hour or something. Talking too quickly, having the students not be able to follow me.

4) Having the students think I'm a stupid idiot who can't lecture and that they wasted their time by coming to class that day.

5) Making them think something as interesting as the SR is boring.

6) Not being able to get the equipment like the projector or the power point presentation to work in the classrooms and having to stand up there like a dork trying to figure it out.

I've been writing the damn lecture all day. My prof wants power point presentations. I hate power point. Plus, he only ever has, like, six or seven slides. I've got fifteen and I think I want to add another one. I can't help it. There's a lot of info and I wanted to break it up. Plus, I still want to go through and find some pictures.

I haven't even given a practice run to my cat yet. If this lecture is only half an hour long and I'm only halfway done, I don't know what I'm going to do.

I still have to write Wednesday's lecture too. Monday's lecture is on: Discoveries, Causes, and Effects of the SR. Wednesday's is on the Trial of Galileo, Weird Stuff, and the Accessibility and Nature of Science. I want to lead into the Enlightenment, because that's what my prof is doing next week.

Ugh. Does anyone have any tips? Am I forgetting something? I've only got 11 hours to go. Ugh.

Have a nice day,
Kelly :)

Bookmark:

Viewing 1 - 3 out of 3 Comments

From: anonymid

02/18/2008 12:54:26

From my own teaching experience, my own biggest worry, by far, was always #4. Rationally speaking, it's probably the least thing to worry about of all the things you mention, especially if you know the material (something you seem to be confident about), and also considering that most students find even good lectures a waste of their time anyway. But I know all too well that what makes sense rationally is rarely a comfort; anxiety doesn't care about reason. All else I can really say is, you look like you're putting a lot more effort and preparation into this than I ever did, so I'm sure you'll be fine. Even if the lecture isn't perfect, the effort and preparation will still make itself apparent; students can tell (alas) when a teacher is prepared and when she or he isn't. My only method of lecturing was to prepare a rough, chaotic set of "notes" (if they ever even qualified as such; I'm not so sure) and just ramble semi-coherently for 50 or 75 minutes or however long the period was. Not having enough to say was rarely a problem, though in retrospect, it's a "problem" I might have been better off having on at least a few occasions. It's also worth noting that I've only taught my own classes; I've never been a TA or had to lecture for someone else's. Which means I've always been able to get away with underpreparing and have never been under much immediate pressure to do, well, a good job. So I don't envy your situation. Anyway, good luck. I'm sorry I don't have any good advice for you. But I'm sure you'll be fine. This is one of those things where "good enough" really is, well, good enough.

From: mserychic

02/17/2008 10:13:15 It actually sounds like you've got a pretty good handle on it! The best lectures I've had are from folks who actually know the material.. not just reading the textbook.. and can answer questions and throw in random facts you wouldn't normally learn in class. Sounds like you've got that down :) Super good luck!

From: JoshA73

02/17/2008 08:59:27 There is no such thing as a stupid idea. All ideas are built on the foundation of trial and error. If the idea was in error, you gain valuable wisdom for future reference. Thomas Edison tried 15,000 different objects before he came up with tungsten for his light bulb.